Conventionally, the coverage area of a wireless communication network such as, for example, a Time Division Duplex (TDD), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-max), Cellular, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), or 3G based wireless network can be increased by a repeater. Exemplary repeaters include, for example, frequency translating repeaters or same frequency repeaters which operate in a physical layer or data link layer as defined by the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI Model).
Physical layer repeaters can be categorized into “same frequency” or “frequency translating” devices. The network architecture associated with where the repeater is going to be deployed will govern type of repeater used. If a same frequency repeater is used, this requires that the repeater receives and transmits on the same frequency concurrently. Accordingly, the repeater must achieve isolation between the receiver and transmitter using various antenna and digital/analog cancellation techniques. If a frequency translating repeater is used, the repeater receives a signal on a first frequency channel and then translates that to a second frequency channel for concurrent transmission. In this manner, isolation between the transmitter and receiver is achieved to a certain extent through frequency separation. Preferably, the antennas for receiving and transmitting as well as repeater circuitry are included within a same packaging in order to achieve manufacturing cost reductions, ease of installation, or the like. This is particularly the case when the repeater is intended for use by a consumer as a residential or small office based device where form factor and ease of installation is an important consideration. In such device, one antenna or set of antennas usually face, for example, a base station, access point, gateway, or another antenna or set of antennas facing a subscriber device.
For a repeater which receives and transmits concurrently, isolation between the receiving and transmitting antennas is a significant factor in overall repeater performance—this is the case whether repeating to the same frequency or repeating to a different frequency. More particularly, if the receiver and the transmitter antennas are not isolated properly, performance of the repeater can significantly deteriorate. Generally, gain of the repeater cannot be greater than the isolation to prevent repeater oscillation or initial de-sensitization. Isolation is generally achieved by physical separation, antenna patterns, or polarization. For frequency translating repeaters, additional isolation may be achieved utilizing band pass filtering, but antenna isolation generally remains a limiting factor in the repeater's performance due to unwanted noise and out of band emissions from the transmitter being received in the receiving antenna's in-band frequency range. The antenna isolation from the receiver to transmitter is an even more critical problem with repeaters operating on same frequencies and where band pass filtering does not provide additional isolation.
Often cellular based systems have limited licensed spectrum available and cannot make use of frequency translating repeating approaches and therefore use repeaters utilizing the same receive and transmit frequency channels.
As mentioned above, for a repeater intended for use with consumers, it would be preferable to manufacture the repeater to have a physically small form factor in order to achieve further cost reductions, ease of installation, and the like. However, small form can result in antennas disposed in close proximity, thereby exasperating the isolation problem discussed above.
Current repeaters suffer an additional significant drawback in that they are not capable of separating leakage from their own transmitters from the signal they wish to repeat. As a result, conventional repeaters typically cannot optimize system isolation and performance on real time bases resulting in poor operation or destructive effects to overall network performance. Specifically, current practices do not allow for adaptive cancellation of unwanted signals in repeater environments while allowing the repeater to operate generally. Instead, current repeater deployments offer limited cancellation loops due to cost and complexity, are discrete implementations, and generally deployed in single band systems with no sub-band filtering. Further, current deployments of interference cancellation loops assume multipath delays and suffer from excess or unmatched delay in scattered signals, changing delays in signals (e.g., Doppler), and limited cancellation for wide band signals (e.g., ICs bandwidth).
From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that there exists a need for systems and methods to overcome the shortcomings of existing practices.